Chillis in Istanbul

[Levent]

Capsicum annuum varieties are known to have little tolerance for cold.I confess it was something unexpected for me.I grew this annuum variety for the first time this season.According to meteo it will get warmer tomorrow so it has a chance to bear cold weather.İf Royal Black manages to survive till spring I'll try to cross it with other chillis such as Tabasco,Cayenne,Pimenta da Neyde to obtain cold resistant hybrids.

[Doug9345]

I'm impressed with it's cold tolerance. I'm glad you intend to save seed from it.

[Levent]

Royal Black is still in snow!
Today as seen in photos some leaves especially the old ones wilted due to cold damage though the stem and younger leaves look good.
RB3.jpg

RB4.jpg

[Fred Hempel]

Amazing. Is this a Royal Black F1 or do you have a selection?

[Levent]

Fred Hempel, as I know Royal Black is not a hybrid but a cultivar from Cambodia.

[Fred Hempel]

Interesting. The only Royal Black I know of is this one:

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ROYAL-B...ductinfo/9342/

When I saved seed, it segregated for color and plant size, so I assumed it was a hybrid.

I see a bunch of other places offering it now too, and in many cases the foliage is not as uniformly black as when I grew it a few years ago.

Anyone know if the Royal Black here in the states was originally a hybrid, or if the green-foliage varieties out there now are OP selections from a variety that used to be darker?

[Levent]

Fred Hempel, this plant is almost identical to mine.Capsicum annuum sorts easily cross pollinate unless you isolate flowers.You didn't mention but I assume you had some other chilli sorts nearby so Royal Black hybridized.

[Fred Hempel]

I don't think it was cross-pollination. Segregation rates were too high. However, it is possible.

[Levent]

I agree it's possible that you had seeds of a Royal Black X unknown annuum at first.On the other hand cross pollinate rates for annuum sorts are 2-91%

[Levent]

When snow melted Royal Black lost most of the leaves.Temps. rose up to 15C last week, today 8C, my frost resistant chilli started budding!

[Doug9345]

Is you weather such that you'll get another freeze that will kill the leaves again or are you good from here out?

[Levent]

It's gonna stay there in ground.If it gets colder (I mean colder than last snowy days) I'll shelter it with a plastic cloche.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Levent

It's gonna stay there in ground.If it gets colder (I mean colder than last snowy days) I'll shelter it with a plastic cloche.

VERY impressive Levent! Save some seeds on that one for sure! That plant deserves MANY offspring all over the world!

[Levent]

I think I have to test frost resistance of offsprings.This feature is either unique to my plant or a heritable one, not sure yet. Next season crossing it with tasty chillis will be an easy but exciting experiment.Serrano,cayenne, tabasco are first candidates.If I achieve to obtain cold tolerant tasty chilli hybrids it can be a turning point in chilli world.Long term work wish me luck!

[Diriel]

Three very nice picks for first crosses. I truly do wish you the best of luck in your upcoming work!